On the face of things, Mahathir Mohamad's last month as prime minister of Malaysia was typical of his 22-year tenure. He paraded his authoritarian instincts by hectoring the parliament of East Timor about the perils of democracy. With characteristic combativeness, he rekindled a 13-year-old war of words with Australia and labelled George Bush a bare-faced liar. The global uproar he created by lifting a page from the Protocols of the Elders of Zion and declaring that Jews rule the world exemplified his most chauvinist side. And as if he had not, over the years, already stirred up enough controversy to last a lifetime, he promised journalists that he would continue "to say nasty things about other countries" after he stands down on October 31st.
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